The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing vehicles and to a vehicle obtained by such a method.
It is known that assembling of a vehicle on an assembly line takes place by first providing the chassis and the body, made of aluminum and/or steel, and subsequently individually fitting the other mechanical components such as propelling means and gear change that are connected to each other and to the bearing structure, and other non-structural elements. In addition, simultaneously or subsequently, the electric wire system is laid down, which wire system is designed to mutually connect the different devices (propelling means, control box, battery, lights, inner lights, dashboard instruments, sensors of different kinds, windscreen wipers, navigator, on board computer, etc.) that are to be reached by or from which the electric signals come. The different cables clearly are not gathered in a predetermined region but they extend along the whole vehicle in order to reach said devices. The whole wiring system is laid down either manually or with the aid of robotized arms before installation of the vehicle's inner elements (upholstery and lining, mouldings, seats, etc.), making it pass through hollow spaces delimited by the vehicle body and/or the chassis.
Disadvantageously, these operations involve use of highly qualified manpower and/or complicated and expensive robotized arms.
In addition, the vehicle being manufactured must remain stationary on the assembly line for a very long period of time and, as a result, large spaces are required for placement of said assembly line (sheds), taking into account the number of vehicles that are produced in the time unit.
Therefore, the complexity of installation of the wiring systems affects the planning and production costs, which obviously has repercussions on the selling price of the vehicle to the final customer.
Also known are vehicles that are of simpler structure and made of plastic material. For instance, British Patent No. GB2311966 discloses a motor vehicle consisting of a number of modular plastic panels reinforced with metal elements and filled with foam. This document does not describe or show the placement of the electric wiring system.
In this context, the technical task underlying the present invention is to propose a method of manufacturing vehicles and a vehicle obtained by said method that are able to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks of the known art.
In particular, it is an aim of the present invention to make available a method for vehicle manufacture and a vehicle obtained by such a method that enable the production costs to be reduced, through simplification of the operations required for assembly, so that the assembly times are correspondingly reduced, with particular reference to installation of the electrical equipment.
The technical task mentioned and the aims specified are substantially achieved by a method of manufacturing vehicles and a vehicle obtained by such a method, comprising the technical features set out in one or more of the appended claims.